Sir Hedley Atkins was the son of a distinguished Guy's general practitioner, Sir John Atkins KCMG, KCVO, FRCS, and Elizabeth May (née Smith) Hedley, by which name he was always known, was educated at Rugby, Trinity College, Oxford and Guy's. He was a man of commanding presence and excellent physique

Gunewardene was born and educated in Ceylon. He did postgraduate studies in England during the 1930s, taking the Fellowship in 1939. He practised in Ceylon for about thirty years, and died there in his fifties.

John Beal was born in London on 27 April 1906. His father, Richard Edward Bruce Beal, OBE, MC, was a solicitor, and his mother, Winifred Morgan, was the daughter of John Hammond Morgan FRCS, formerly senior surgeon at Charing Cross and Great Ormond Street, and a member of council. He entered Harrow

Henry Reynolds Thompson was born in Hampstead, London, on 14 February 1908 the son of Harold Theodore Thompson (1878-1935) MD, FRCP, FRCS, physician to the London Hospital (*Lives of the Fellows*, 1930-1951, p.764) and Elinor, née Waller (whose father was a dental surgeon in Alexandria). He was educ

Geoffrey Myers was born on 24 January 1908. He passed the FRCS in 1937 and, during the second world war served with both the RAMC and the NZMC. He spent his career in general surgery working for such organisations as the United Fruit Company Inc. and the North and West Africa Socony Mobil Oil Compan

Paul Chanmugam was born in Jaffna, Ceylon, on 1 June 1900, the son of Anna Annama (née Paul) whose father was resident surgeon at the Friend in Need Hospital, Jaffna, and Joseph Kadir Gamer Chanmugam, Principal of Jaffna Central College, where he received his early medical training before entering K

Herbert Frederick Moseley was born in Canada and studied at McGill University passing his BA in 1926. He attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and won the Radcliffe Prize. He gained practical experience at St Thomas's Hospital and became Hunterian Professor at the College in 1950. Return

John Robert Blackburne, known as 'Robin', was a consultant surgeon at Hull Royal Infirmary. He was born on 27 August 1909, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where his father, John Devereux Blackburne, was a banker. His mother was Francisca, née Lopez. Robin was sent home to school, at Berkhamstead, from w

Bob Wolfe was born in London on 10 October 1907. He came from Eastbourne College to St Thomas's where he qualified in 1932 and where, inspired by his teachers Cyril Nitch and Phillip Mitchiner, he decided on a career of surgery, rather against his father's hopes that they would join in general pract

Herbert Frank McNickle was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 23 August 1907. His father, William McNickle, was the local postmaster. He attended Auckland Grammar School from 1920 to 1924 and the University of Otago Medical School, where he won a gold medal in anatomy, from 1925 to 1930. He becam

Samuel Ernest Birdsall was born on 14 February 1908 in Skipton, Yorkshire, the only son of James Ernest, an optician, and his wife, Eva. He attended Skipton Grammar School winning an open exhibition to Christ's College, Cambridge. His clinical studies were carried out at St Bartholomew's Hospital, L

George Clayfield Sawyer was born on 14 August 1909 in Portsmouth where his father was a sports journalist, later becoming Clerk to the local Medical Committee before the introduction of the NHS. He was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School and Guy's Hospital. Deciding on a career in surgery he held